FingerFiddle vs Functional Ear Trainer
Price, ratings, monetisation and update history for both apps, side by side — with what reviewers say about each.
FingerFiddle
Transform your device into a realistic string instrument. Control notes with your fingers and shape sound with bow-like movements. Experience the full expressive range of violin family instruments anytime, anywhere.
- Realistic bow and fingerboard control
- Expressive sound shaping
- Pizzicato playing mode
- Customizable fingerboard
- Inter-App Audio/Audiobus support
- Multiple violin family instruments
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Turn your iPad into an instrument of the violin family and play just like on a real instrument ! FingerFiddle introduces a new and highly sensitive musical experience with your IOS device. Your actions on the screen are turned naturally into an exceptionally realistic and responsive sound, whatever you do. Place your fingers on the fingerboard to change notes. Move your other hand on the screen to rub the strings with the bow and shape the sound continuously in real-time. Pluck the screen to play pizzicato. FingerFiddle responds accurately to your movements and lets you play with the full palette of violin expression, just like with a real instrument. FingerFiddle is a musical instrument that you can bring with you everywhere to play, practice, have fun and perform with others. It includes a full collection of fine-tuned instruments from the violin family (violin, viola, cello and double bass). The basic version comes with a cello, and other instruments are available to try and purchase. Wherever you are, at any time, pick one of the instruments and play music for real with FingerFiddle. Who is it for? Anyone interested in music playing can find something in FingerFiddle: - For the beginner, FingerFiddle is an affordable way to experience and enjoy fiddle playing, alone or in group. Play, practice to improve your playing, try different instruments and maybe, eventually, buy a real instrument… - For advanced players, FingerFiddle is a new instrument to discover and have fun with. Use it in your musical productions and live performances, when jamming with others, or just to sketch ideas. - In all cases, FingerFiddle is a musical instrument that is always right at your fingertips, whenever you feel the need to play music. Features: - Natural mapping between movement and sound: your finger is the bow ! - Outstanding sound rendering for a realistic output - Pitch is controlled with a fingerboard on the screen to allow fiddle-specific playing techniques (vibrato, glissando, chords) - The fingerboard is customizable: set its width and the space between notes for a comfortable playing - A specific area is dedicated to pizzicato playing - Inter-App Audio / Audiobus support (generator) - Very low memory requirement: no samples library is used - Inter App Audio and Audiobus support - The basic version includes the Cello from the Classic Collection. Other instruments are available as In App purchases (Violin, Viola, Double Bass, normal or with mutes)
Functional Ear Trainer
Develop your musical ear by learning to recognize tones within the context of a specific musical key. This app helps you understand the function of each note, improving your ability to transcribe, improvise, and play music by ear. Suitable for all ages and skill levels, with just 10 minutes of daily practice.
- Recognize tones in musical key context
- Understand note function
- Improve transcription skills
- Enhance improvisation
- Develop perfect pitch
- Daily 10-minute practice
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Have you (or maybe one of your friends) ever wanted to learn to transcribe or play music by ear? It is so important for a musician to know what you are hearing. A good musical ear helps when you are composing, improvising, transcribing melodies, or playing with others. Most likely you have already tried different programs to learn to recognize intervals or even to acquire perfect pitch. However, although such programs develop your ear, but can you actually play any melody you hear as soon as you listen to it? Imagine you could understand music... It is like when somebody is talking to you, you not only hear pleasant sounds, but you recognize words and their meaning. One day I came across Alain Benbassat's program called "Functional Ear Trainer" and have been using it ever since. It is based on Alain's method to learn to recognize tones. The main difference between the Functional Ear Trainer and other methods is that it teaches you to distinguish between tones in the context of a particular musical key. You begin to recognize the role (or function) of each tone in this key, which is incredibly similar to its role in other keys of the same scale. And it is *guaranteed* anyone can gradually develop this skill. It does not matter: - who you are - an absolute beginner in music or a virtuoso professional musician; - how old you are - a 3 yo kid or a 90+ adult; - what musical instrument you play (you don't even have to play one). The only requirement is to practice for 10 minutes a day. I was so excited about this ear trainer that I have developed a mobile app based on the Alain Benbassat method. I hope you will find it useful.
Screenshots
Verdict
The clearest difference is price: Functional Ear Trainer at Free against FingerFiddle's $2.99. Functional Ear Trainer also leads on rating (4.9 vs 4.4) and ratings volume (3.8K vs 52). FingerFiddle's advantage is update cadence (every 3 months vs every 7 months) and iOS requirement (9.0 vs 15.0). On ads, in-app purchases, monetization model and device support there is nothing between them.
Scored on Price · Rating · Positive reviews · Number of ratings · Update frequency · Ads · In-app purchases · Monetization · Best chart rank · Devices · Requires iOS
Functional Ear Trainer is free to download; FingerFiddle costs $2.99 up front. FingerFiddle sells 9 one-off in-app purchases and Functional Ear Trainer sells 1 one-off in-app purchase. Whichever you choose, the download price is not the number that matters.
Functional Ear Trainer holds the better App Store score, 4.9 against 4.4. That said, the two scores are not equally well evidenced: Functional Ear Trainer has 3.8K ratings behind it against 52, so its average is the more settled of the two. Written reviews point the same way: 82% of FingerFiddle's written reviews are positive against 96% of Functional Ear Trainer's.
FingerFiddle ships an update every 3 months, Functional Ear Trainer every 7 months. The most recent releases landed on October 21, 2026 and October 22, 2026 respectively.
| Parameter | FingerFiddle | Functional Ear Trainer |
|---|---|---|
| Price | $2.99 | Free — better |
| Rating | 4.4 (52 ratings) | 4.9 (3.8K ratings) — better |
| Positive reviews | 81.6% of reviews | 96.2% of reviews — better |
| Number of ratings | 52 | 3.8K — better |
| Update frequency | Every 3 months — better | Every 7 months |
| Ads | No | No |
| In-app purchases | Yes | Yes |
| Monetization | Free with in-app purchases | Free with in-app purchases |
| Devices | iPhone, iPad, iPod | iPhone, iPad, iPod |
| Requires iOS | 9.0 — better | 15.0 |
| Further details — not scored | ||
| Size | 24 MB | 41 MB |
| Age rating | 4+ | 4+ |
| Developer | Matthias Demoucron | Serhii Korchan |
Customer experience
FingerFiddle
Functional Ear Trainer
User reviews
FingerFiddle
From 52 App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🎶 Realistic and amazing sound quality
- 💡 Highly expressive and innovative
- ✨ Intuitive and well-designed interface
- 🚀 Great performance and small file size
- 💰 Excellent value for money
Room to improve
- 💸 Additional in-app purchases required for instruments
- 🎻 Violin not included in initial purchase
- 🤔 Confusing pricing and hidden costs
- 🎛️ Limited pitch selection (fixed keys)
- 🎧 Aliasing distortion on high strings
Functional Ear Trainer
From 3.8K App Store ratingsWhat we love
- 🚀 Effective ear training
- 👍 Simple and intuitive interface
- 💡 Customizable exercises
- 🎉 Noticeable improvement with regular practice
- 🎨 Visually appealing design
Room to improve
- 🐛 Occasional audio glitches
- 💡 Lack of support for other instruments besides piano
- 💡 Desire for more advanced features (e.g. chord recognition)
Bugs and requests
FingerFiddle
Reported bugs
4 issues- App crashes frequently (especially after iOS 11.2)
- 3D bow and vibrato not working for some users
- Mutes when starting recording in GarageBand
- Vibrato function not activable for some users
Requested features
15 requests- Recording capability
- Metronome
- MIDI IN/OUT support
- AUv3 support for DAWs
- Support for Apple Pencil 2 pressure
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- Fretless option
- More instrument variety (guitars, woodwinds, brass, percussion, Indian Sarangi, Viola da Gamba)
- Five-string bass option
- Oversampling for improved sound quality
- Customizable fingerboard pitch settings
- Auto-vibrato mode
- String ensemble sounds
- Vertical bow movement option
- More realistic fingerboard layout
- Ability to choose pitch with a keyboard
Functional Ear Trainer
Reported bugs
2 issues- Keyboard display issues when selecting all chromatic notes
- Inconsistent note resolutions in some exercises
Requested features
5 requests- Add support for multiple notes/chords at once
- Implement a mode for training key recognition
- Provide more customization options for exercises
- Include voice input to play the notes
- Add support for German/Norwegian key names
In-app purchases
FingerFiddle
- Violin (Classic Collection)$2.99
- Viola (Classic Collection)$2.99
- Violin (Con Sordino Collection)$2.99
Show 6 moreShow fewer
- Double Bass (Classic Collection)$2.99
- Viola (Con Sordino Collection)$2.99
- Cello (Con Sordino Collection)$2.99
- Double Bass (Con Sordino Collection)$2.99
- Classic Collection$8.99
- Con Sordino Collection$8.99
Functional Ear Trainer
- Functional Ear Trainer Plus$19.99
Questions
Is FingerFiddle free?
Is Functional Ear Trainer free?
Which has better reviews, FingerFiddle or Functional Ear Trainer?
Do FingerFiddle or Functional Ear Trainer have ads?
Which is updated more often, FingerFiddle or Functional Ear Trainer?
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